The concept was, what if Theme Hospital was about Victorian-esq research institution instead of a hospital? You hire strange scientists, have them explore dangerous fields of research, collect messy findings, turn them into theories, prototypes and eventually products, all the while trying to convince investors they're worth funding before they hit the market and work out what they might actually be worth
The gameloop is broken down into two parts, Exploration / Discovery and Exhibition, the closest comparison I have for the first part is take Kerbal Space Program, but focus it on Mission Control rather than the astronauts
While the mad scientists are going into weird, unstable research domains, the player is managing the institution around them, funding, equipment, research direction, safety
On the other side as you discover interesting things or successfully develop prototypes worth showing off, have investors show up and see what excites them, will they give you more funding? Push a grant your way? How are you going to keep this circus going?
You're balancing two plates, you need to invent tools to delve deeper and if you don't keep finding exciting new discoveries, your investors will slowly get bored of you